Lamp mount transfer apparatus



May 27, 1958 E. E. YEO ETAL 2,836,313

LAMP MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed May 1, 1956 4 Sheets-Shqet 1 A77OK/VE Y May '27, 1958' Filed May 1, 1956- E. E. YEO ETAL LAMP MOUNTTRANSFER APPARATUS l6? /70 I l i i 1 i M /56 I /75 4 Sheets-Sheet "2INVENTORS DAV/D DROW/V JAMES P OBAIE/V BY m/vmr 5 150 ATTORNEY May 27,1958 E. E. YEO EI'AL 3 LAMP MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed May 1, 1956 4Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TORS O/JV/D WWW/V JAM/56' A O'BRIEN BY ER/VfJT E.YEO

y 1958 E. E. YEO ETAL 2,836,313

LAMP MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed May 1, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATIM/v5 Y Unite States Patent assess LAMr Mount" rnsnsann APPARATUSErnest E. Yeo, Wenham, and Ear/id Patterson Drown and James P. GBrien,Beverly, Mass, assignors to Sylvania Electric Products Zoo, alem, Mass,a corporation of Massachusetts Application l fay 1, 2956, Serial No.581,932

2 Claims. (Cl. 214-148) This invention relates to apparatus fortransferring electric lamp mounts from a supply of the latter to amachine in which the mounts are further processed. Such mounts aregenerally glass structures, each of which includes a flared portionintended to be sealed to the neck of the bulb and a body or stem portionwhich extends from the flared portion and supports the lamp filament ona pair of lead-in wires sealed therethrough. An exhaust tube dependsfrom the body between the lower end portions of the lead-in wires. Sincesuch mounts are extremely fragile articles, their transfer at highspeeds is difficult of successful accomplishment.

Nonetheless, our invention is particularly directed to providinautomatic apparatus for loading lamp mounts at high speed into the headsof a lamp sealing machine.

It will be appreciated that since mounts are extremely fragile articles,it is necessary to avoid or limit forces which might deform, distort orotherwise damage them. Such forces may often be negligible at lowoperating speeds yet be very damaging in high speed apparatus which may,for example, deliver 60 or more mounts per minute to a sealing machine.In addition, it is necessary to maintain angular orientation of themounts to permit exhaust and basing machines to be coupled with thesealing machine by automatic transfer mechanisms.

In a mount-making machine, mounts are conveniently fabricated infilament-down position. The mounts are discharged from the machine ontoconveyors which carry the mounts also in filament-down position in orderto retain the original orientation provided by the machine. However, thesealing operation on a sealing machine is most conveniently performedwith the mounts disposed in filament-up position. It is thereforenecessary that the mounts after being picked up from such conveyors beinverted before being deposited into heads of sealing machines A furtherproblem occurs whenever two mounts are transferred simultaneously from aconveyor to a sealing machine. The mounts are carried on such a conveyorin relatively close-spaced relation to allow a maximum carrying capacityfor a given length of conveyor. On the other hand, the heads of asealing machine are of such form and size that they must be spaced aconsid erably greater distance apart. It is therefore necessary that amount transfer apparatus which simultaneously loads two mounts onto asealing machine provide a change in spacing between the two mountsduring the transfer movement. It is accordingly an object of ourinvention to improve lamp making efficiency by providing mount transferapparatus in which angular orientation of the mounts is retained.

Another object is to provide such apparatus in which mount distortingand deforming forces at high speeds are either limited or eliminated.

A further object is to provide mount transfer apparatus which invertsthe mounts in transit from a filament down to a filament up position.

It is still another object to provide apparatus which in sim l ne sly leding two m un s on a se ling ma hi e compensates for the differentspacing required between the mounts on a conveyor and in the machine.

These and other objects are achieved in accordance with our invention bya mount transfer apparatus which includes a pair of clamping assemblieseach mounted for pivotal motion about a shaft. The two shafts which aremounted on a slidable carriage are angularly disposed with respect toone another. Because of this angular relation of the shafts, theassemblies are closer together at their mount pickup station than at thedelivery station. By employing a combination of the pivotal motion ofthe assemblies and a sliding motion of the carriage, the path over whicha mount must travel is considerably shorter than a single circular arebetween the pickup and delivery stations. This shorter path allows thetransfer to be accomplished at a consequently slower speed during anequal time interval and accordingly lessens forces which might otherwisedistort, deform or disorient the mount. Each clamp assembly includes apair of pivotally mounted jaws urged into closed mount gripping relationby suitable springs. A movable yoke is coupled to the jaws for actuatingthem to close about a mount at the pick-up station and to open forreleasing the mount into the head of the sealing machine.

The foregoing and additional objects, advantages and novel features willmore fully appear from the following description in connection with theaccompanying draw ings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a mount transfer apparatus according to ourinvention;

Figure 2 is a view of the apparatus in side elevation;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the apparatus in side elevationshowing a mount being delivered to a lamp sealing machine;

Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of the portion of our apparatusshown in Fig. 3 but showing a mount being picked up from a supplyconveyor;

Figure 5 is a View in horizontal section of a pair of jaws for holding amount during transfer;

Figure 6 is a view in end elevation of the jaws shown in Fig. 5.

Turning now to the drawings, we will describe an apparatus according toour invention employed for transferring mounts indicated at 10 from aconveyor indicated at 12 to a lamp sealing machine shown fragmentarilyand schematically at 14. On the conveyor 12 each mount 10 is carried ona clip 16 disposed in spaced relation with adjacent clips 16 along thelength of the conveyor. Our apparatus simultaneously picks up two mounts10 from the conveyor 12 and deposits each mount in a mount pin 18 of asealing head indicated at 2% on the machine 14. The mount ill, as shownin Fig. 4, includes a flare tube 22, an exhaust tube 24 which extendsupwardly from the flare tube and a filament 26 mounted on a pair ofsupport wires 28 depending from the flare tube. Lead-in wires 30 extendupwardly adjacent the exhaust tube 24 and are electrically connected tothe support 23.

The apparatus is supported on a pedestal 32 and in cludes a slide base34 upon which a reciprocable carriage 36 is siidably mounted on acylindrical rod and a guide bar 4% of rectangular cross section. The rod32%, fixed on the base 34, is slidably fitted into a suitable bore inthe carriage as. The bar 413, similarly fixed on the base 34, is engagedby slide plates 42, 4 mounted on the carriage 36. The plates 42 arefixedly secured to the carriage 36 but each of the plates 44 isadjustable vertically by means of an adjusting screw 46 for a slidinglit with the bar 49 and to compensate for wear. A reciprocating motionis imparted to the carriage 36 by a generally vertical lever 48 having aspherical upper end 50 connected by a link 52 to a spherical stud 54mounted to the underside of the carriage. The travel of the carriage 36is limited at its inward end adjacent the machine ceiving relation wtheach in Fig. l. i

. between the mounts carried by the two assemblies 68, the shafts 66,with which the assemblies pivot, are

' journalled in angular orientation with respect to one another in thehorizontal plane. Since the two shafts 66 are provided with likeactuating means which operate simultaneously'and the clamp assemblies 63are also alike, this description for the sake of simplicity, willproceed as though a single shaft and clamp assembly were involved. Itwill be appreciated, however, that'everything which is said concerningthe shaft and the clamp assembly 63 situated to the left of Figure 1 isequally applicable to the shaft and clamp assembly illustrated at theright of the, same figure; As shown in Figs. 3-5 the clamp assembly 68includes an elongated body 70 fast at its inner end to a flatted surface72 on pinion 64, an inner jaw 74 and an outer jaw 76' pivotally mountedon the outer end of the body 70. Slot 78, formed in the uppe'r surfaceof the body 70, is provided with 'a jaw actuating slide 80 reciprocable.therein. Cover 82 is secured to the body 743 by screws 34. A stud 28,secured to the slide 80, extends downwardly through longitudinal centralslot 8? in the body 71 and upwardly through a similar slot not shown inthe cover 82. The outward end of the slide 80 is coupled to each of thejaws 74, 76 by a pair of links 90. The jaws 74, 76 are The rod 134 isconnectedaat one end to the arm 130 by 7 means of a spherical couplingincluding'a rod end 142 fitted to an appropriate surface of stud 144.'At the other end of the rod 134 a similar arrangement includes a stud146 and 'a rod end 148." The lever 48is pivoted on shaft 150 which issupported on the pedestal 32.

The link ro'ds 102 are 'reciprocated vertically by an actuatingmechanism whichincludes an arm-152 and the cam 122. The arm .152 ispivoted at one'end, on the shaft 132 and carries a cam follower 154which is maintained in contact with the cam 122 by a tension spring a156 connected between an anchor post 158 on the pedestal 32 and the freeend of the and 152. Each of, the

.. rods 102 is coupled/to the arm.152 through' a yielding couplingincluding an outer sleeve160, a plunger 162;

urged into closed, mount gripping relation by-a pair of tension springs92 extended between pins 94 which are fixed on the jaws. The jaws 74, 76are actuated to pick up and to release mounts by an outward motion ofthe slide sit-effected by means of a yoke 96, shown fragmentarily inFigs. 3 and 4, which engages the stud 88.

- Thetransfer of a mount 10is efiected in our apparatus by acombinations of two motions, one of which is a pivoting of the clampassembly 68 about the axis of'the shaft 66 and' the other, a slidingmotion of thecarriage 36. The pivoting motion is imparted to th'e'clampassembly 68 by'a gear sector 98 meshed with the pinion 64. The sector 98is fixed on a shaft 100 which is journalled in the carriage 36 below andin parallel relation with the shaft 66. The sector 98 is oscillated by alink rod 102 which is pivoted to the sector by means of a sphericalconnection between stud 104 secured to the sector and rod end 106.

The yoke 96 is pivotally connected at its forward end to the upper endof a generally vertical link 108. At its lower end, the link 108'ispivoted on the carriage 36. The yoke 96 is also pivoted on the upper endof a lever 11% at its rearward end. The lever'llfl is fixedly mounted atits' lower end upon a horizontal shaft 112 which is journalled in thecarriage 36. An oscillating motion is imparted to the lever 110 throughacrank 114 fixed to the outer end of the shaft 112; The crank 114 iscoupledat its free end to the upper end of a connecting rod 116. Aspherical surface on stud 118, which is securely. mounted on the freeend of the crank 114, is engaged by a complementary surface in rod end120.

. The above-described motions are actuated by cams 122, 124 and 126 eachfixed to shaft 128, seen in Figs.

1 and 2. The shaft 128 is partof the sealing machine 7 14 and makes onerevolution for each index motion ofr the latter.

The index motion moves each head through an are equal to thedistancebetween alternate heads. it is thus .seen that at the end ofeach index motion a head 20 without a mount 10is positioned in mountreclar'np assembly 68:as shown wardlybetween them. The mount pin 18 israised to V and a spring 164. The sleeve 160 is adjustably fixed on thelower end of a rod 102. Theplunger 162' is re tained in the sleeve 160by a pin and slot arrangement,

not shown, which allows the plunger a limited motion in the sleeveagainst the bias of the'compression spring 164. ;A rod end 168,-having aspherical internal sur face, is adjustably secured to the outer end ofthe plunger 162 and is swivelled on a stud 170 mounted on the free endof the arm 152. The upper end portions 7 of the rods 102 pass throughsuitable-openings ini the top surface of the pedestal 32,.in the slidebase 34 and in the carriage. 36 and are connected each .to its relatedsector 98 as already described.

Motion is' supplied to the arm-114, which actuates the yoke 96-forcontrolling the jaws 74, 76 by the cam 126, which is mounted on theshaft 128. A rocker arm .172 pivotally mounted on the shaft 132 carriesa cam follower 174 which is maintained in contact with the cam 126 by-aspring 176. The rod 116 is connected to the arm 172 by a rodend 178coupled to a stud 180 which is fixed to the free end of the arm. a Thespring 176 is under tension between the arm 172 and a post 182mounted'on the pedestal 32.

We will now describe a complete operating cycle of our apparatuscommencing at the time that a pair of mounts l'fl is delivered each toits mount pin 18. Al,- though the mounts 10 are delivered in pairs, eachby a:

clamp assembly 68, it will be found convenient in the followingdescription to consider a'single clamp assembly delivering a singlemount at a time. In order to locate the mount 10 in registration withthe mount. pin 18, the

carriage 36 abuts the screw 56 and finger 184 is in con tact with stopscrew 186 for positioning the assembly 68 generally horizontally. Whenthe mount 10is thus located in the delivery position the jaws 74, 76 areopened to allow the flare tube 22 of the mount to pass downreceive themount 10 to a level just below the lower surfaceof the jaws 74, 76 by aconventional cam-actuated elevator mechanism, well known in the art andnot shown in the, drawings. ;The opening of the jaws 74, 76 isaccomplished by thejyoke 96 which contacts the stud 88 to move-the slide80 outwardly against the biasof the springs 92.; The operation of thejaws 74, 76' may be A generally vertical arm 130 which is pivoted at itssimplified by; retaining them in the open position :after the deliveryof a mount 10 until the next mount'is picked;

up'fr'om the conveyor 12. The slide is accordingly urged outwardly,against the bias of the springs 92, past the point ofmaximum jawopening. This point is reached when'thet'wo links are alignedtransversely with respect to the line of motion of the slide 80. Afterthe point of maximum jaw opening is passed, the force exerted by thesprings 92 is translated by the links 90 into furtheroutward motion ofthe slide 80. The outward,

motion of the slide 80 under the influence of the springs 92 is arrestedwhen the pin 88 reaches theouter end-of the slot 89. Thereafter, untilthe stud 88 is urged inwardly by the yoke 96, the jaws 74, 76 remain inalmost fully opened position.

The yoke 96 is actuated to open the jaws 74, 76 by a pivotal motion ofthe shaft 112 in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 2. The pivotalmotion is provided by the cam 126 which imparts a suitablecounter-clockwise movement to the arm 172. The movement of the arm 172is coupled by means of the rod 116 to the crank 114 which translatesthis motion into the necessary pivoting of the shaft 112.

After the delivery of a mount to the mount pin 18 has been completed,the clamp assembly 68 is moved from the delivery position shown inFigure 3 to the pickup position shown in Fig. 4. The movement of theassembly 68 to the mount pick-up position at the conveyor 12 consists oftwo separate motions which occur concurrently. One of these is a slidingmotion of the carriage 36 in an outward direction away from the machine14 and the other is a pivotal motion of the assembly 68 in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of the shaft 66 as seen in Figure 3.The pivotal motion is efifected by the sector 98 which is in toothedengagement with the pinion 64. The sector 98 is pivoted in a clockwisedirection through an arc of about 45 by the rod 106 which is movedupwardly as seen in Figure 2. The upward stroke of the rod 106 isprovided by the cam 122 through the arm 152 to which the rod isconnected. A telescoping motion of the plunger 162 within the sleeve 160against the bias of the spring 164 at the upward end of the stroke ofthe rod 166 provides bias to maintain the finger 184 in engagement withstop screw 190 at the end of the counter-clockwise motion of the shaft66. Although the start of the sliding motion of the carriage 36 and thepivotal motion of the assembly 68 are approximately simultaneous, it hasbeen found advantageous to complete the pivotal motion of the assemblybefore the sliding motion of the carriage is terminated. At the end ofthe pivotal motion of the assembly 68, the stud 88, through which thejaws 74, '76 are controlled, extends downwardly into a slot 192 formedin the yoke 96.

The sliding motion of the carriage 36 toward the pickup station isactuated by a counter-clockwise pivoting of the lever 48 as seen inFigure 2. The lever 48, which is connected to the carriage by the link52, receives its pivotal motion from the rod 134 which is connected tothe arm 130. The cam 124 provides the necessary motion to the arm 130through the follower 136.

Since the jaws 74, 76 have been locked open at the delivery station andthe pivotal motion of the assembly 68 is completed before the end of thesliding movement of the carriage 36, the open jaws approach a mount 16on the conveyor 12 in a horizontal direction. During a brief pause ofthe assembly 63 at the pick-up station, the jaws 74, 76 are closed aboutthe exhaust tube 24 of the mount 16 just above the flare tube 28.Closure of the jaws 74, 76 is effected by the yoke 96 which is actuatedduring the pause through the mechanism already described for opening thejaws. The stud 88 is engaged by the outer surface of the slot 192 in theyoke 96 to retract the slide 80 inwardly. As the slide 86 moves inwardlythe jaws 74, 76 first open slightly against the bias of the springs 92until the two links 90 are in alignment with one another. After thispoint has been passed, the force of the springs 92, translated by thelinks 96, causes the slide 80 to move inwardly until the stud 88contacts the inward surface of the slot 192. The relatively slowretracting speed of the yoke 96 permits the jaws 74, 76 to close gentlyabout the exhaust tube 24. The gentle closure is important in avoidingbreakage of fragile glass parts. During the subsequent motion of themount 10 toward the mount pin 18, the mount is retained firmly in thejaws 74, 76 by the tension of the springs 92, thereby avoidingdisplacement of the mount in transit. l i

After the jaws 74, 76 have closed about the exhaust tube 24, thecarriage 36 begins its return motion toward the machine 14. In order toprovide clearance between the filament 26 and the mount clip 16, it isnecessary that the pivoting of the assembly 68 be delayed until afterthe carriage 36 has started its return stroke which is effected by thelever 48 through the mechanism described above for the motion of thecarriage toward the conveyor 12. The clockwise pivotal motion of theassembly 68 is actuated by the same means which has been described forthe movement in the opposite direction and is so timed with the motionof the carriage 36 that the path of the filament 26 clears the clip 16.

Upon arrival at the delivery station, the mount 10 is released into themount pin 18, as already described, and our mechanism thereafter repeatsits operating cycle.

What we claim is:

l. Lamp mount transfer and inverting apparatus comprising: ahorizontally reciprocable carriage; a pair of generally horizontalshafts journalled in said carriage with their axes angularly orientedwith respect to one another; a mount clamping assembly on each of saidshafts, each said assembly including an elongated body, having one endsecured to one of said shafts, and a pair of opposed jaws spring loadedinto closed mount gripping relation, pivotally mounted on the other endof said body, each assembly being pivotable about the axis of itsrelated shaft in a generally vertical plane angularly disposed withrelation to the plane in which the other assembly is pivotable, eachassembly being movable between a pick-up station and a delivery station,said assemblies being spaced apart a different distance in each saidstation; means for reciprocating said carriage between said stations;means for oscillating said assemblies through about degrees in timedrelation with the reciprooation of said carriage whereby each saidassembly is in the pick-up station at one extreme of said reciprocationand of said oscillation and in the delivery station at the other extremeof said motions; and means for actuating said jaws to close about amount received in each assembly at the pick-up stations and to open atthe delivery stations to release said mounts, whereby spacing betweenthe two mounts is altered and each mount is inverted in transit.

2. In combination with a lamp-sealing machine having a plurality ofheads successively indexed in pairs each to a delivery station, mounttransfer and inverting apparatus comprising: a reciproca'ble carriage; apair of generally horizontal shafts journalled in said carriage withtheir axes angularly oriented with respect to one another; a mountclamping assembly on each of said shafts, each said assembly includingan elongated body having one end secured to one of said shafts and apair of opposed jaws pivotally mounted on the other end of said body andspring loaded into closed mount-gripping relation, each assembly beingpivotable about the axis of its related shaft in a generally verticalplane angularly disposed with respect to the plane in which the otherassembly is pivotable, each assembly being movable between a pick-upstation and said delivery station, said assemblies being spaced apart adifierent distance in each said stat-ion; means for reciprocating saidcarriage between said stations; means for oscillating said assembliesthrough about 180 degrees in timed relation with the reciprocation ofsaid carriage whereby each said assembly is in the pick-up station atone extreme of said reciprocation and of said oscillation and in thedelivery station at the other extreme of said motions; and means foractuating said jaws to close about a mount received in each assembly atthe pick-up stations and to open at the delivery stations to releasesaid mounts into the heads of said machine, whereby spacing between thetwo mm is glt rd and e h inount is iimmd in 2,253,155

frans'it. V V I V 2,702,135

7 References Cited in the file of this jpatent UNITED STATES PATENTS '75 1,835,570 Lorenz D ec 8, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS i 150,925 ustraii'a FeB.3, 1955 V

